Moerbe

Throughout the course of any given day, we often ask for God’s blessing—for ourselves or for others—almost as a matter of routine.

We ask for God’s blessing during times of great sadness and at times of great joy. We ask for God’s blessing when we awake and when we go to bed at night. We ask for God’s blessing on our country. We ask for God’s blessing for our food. We even ask for God’s blessing when someone sneezes or as a way of greeting.

In Blessed: God’s Gift of Love, authors Mary J. Moerbe and Christopher Mitchell take the word bless, which many use routinely, and, through scriptural exploration and study, illustrate how it’s anything but routine. The following excerpt is from chapter 2.

Language

When I was in college, a girl sneezed, and I automatically responded, “Bless you!” Much to my surprise, she was taken aback. Only later did she explain that she was offended by the overtly religious nature of the expression.